A Sword's Fidelity
by calsicle
Summary: "I belong to the people I love, and they belong to me―they, and the love and loyalty I give them, form my identity far more than any word or group ever could." ― A collection of one-shots of the Saniwa and your favorite sword. (Cover image by Pixiv ID 13983322, will take down if necessary).
1. Cherry-Blossom Dance (Shishiou)

**So, after months of not writing anything and distancing myself from the RP world, I am positive that my writing skill is decreasing. Not to mention that this is my first time―okay, maybe not the** _first_ **time―writing in a first person point of view, but it has been a long time since I did that and I am much more comfortable with writing in third person. But if I choose to do this in a third person POV, I need to choose a pronoun to use, and a saniwa can be any gender, and I don't really like a story with they/them pronouns as it can be rather confusing... So, whether I want it or not, I have to do this in a first person POV.**

 **Anyway, this chapter was** _not_ **proof-read. I couldn't wait to publish it, so... yeah. Watch out for grammatical mistakes and typos.**

 **Okay, enough rambling for now! You can now enjoy it to your heart's content. Though, of course, there will be more notes after the story! Alright, go and read now, shoo, shoo.**

* * *

A cherry-blossom petal fell on my head, stuck in my disheveled hair which had not been combed since lethargy was keeping me here, sitting at the edge of the citadel, watching as the other cherry-blossom petals fall to the ground, coating the green grass with pink.

I didn't bother to take the petal away from my hair. I kept on humming, enjoying the spectacular view of pink that was presented before me while keeping on a small smile across my features. Pink wasn't particularly my favorite color, but I couldn't imagine what other color would suit these cherry-blossoms other than pink.

I mean, sure, the combination of red, dark brown, and light brown in autumn is wonderful and perfect, but nothing could beat the beauty of a sea of cherry-blossoms under a tree of one.

Some of the petals fell on the pond below the tree, resulting small ripples to be made on the blue yet translucent water.

If I had a camera right now, I'd definitely take a picture.

"Ah."

Shaking my head, I quickly attempted to perish the thought off of my head.

 _No. Stop thinking about the future, you. What is present is present. Don't think about the future until your job is done._

"Aruji, you have something on your hair."

Startled, I nearly jumped out of from the wooden edge if it weren't for the strong grips that held me back. Shooting the owner of the hands a surprised glance, I rolled my eyes before letting out a laugh. I'd recognize that blonde low ponytail anywhere.

"Jeez, stop sneaking up on me! You're not Tsuru."

Shishiou laughed. His laughing face had always reminded me of the sun up there, bright and cheerful. "Maybe it's just Aruji who's so easily surprised!" he laughed as he helped me catch my balance, refraining me from tumbling over.

Instead of wearing his usual battle outfit, Shishiou was donning his usual black hoodie―track jacket?―which was adorned by those unexplainable yellow patterns, for I hadn't send him on any expeditions yet.

"Shut up," I snapped playfully. When he just tossed me his signature saintly grin, I tapped the free space beside me, beckoning for the blonde to sit on the spot.

"But seriously," he started, reaching out to my head, only to take the petal from my unkempt and tousled ringlets. "Letting something to fall on your head, and―" he grimaced, "―a really bad hair day? What's wrong with you, Aruji?"

Emitting a chuckle, I impetuously ran a hand through my unkempt locks in an attempt to comb and fix them; as though my fingers were a comb―although everyone knew the attempt was futile.

"Nothing, pretty much," I said simply, turning my full attention back to the stunning view that was given to me, which seemed to catch the captain of one of my auxiliary teams' eyes.

I could tell, from the sudden silence that manifested itself between us, that Shishiou was having quite a trouble comprehending the meaning of my answer to his question. I knew that a certain question appeared in the back of his eyes. I didn't really mind, though, this clueless part of him―it was actually kind of cute, in my opinion.

"Gorgeous, isn't it?" I said.

"Huh?"

"The view," I replied, almost too quickly. I glanced at him, forming a smile on my face. "The cherry-blossoms."

"Oh, um..." Shishiou blinked several times, before instantly swinging his head to the front.

I swear on the hopefully future arrival of Mikazuki Munechika, I saw his cheeks turned pink just now.

Or was that just an effect given by the color of the cherry-blossoms?

I wasn't sure which was the correct one.

It didn't take long for Shishiou to be mesmerized by the scenery. His lips were apart by a few centimetres, and his eyes, which were round and wide, were filled with awe. The scenery had taken his breath away, and I was not disappointed by it.

"Right?"

My repetition seemed to have brought him back from his moment, as seen from the stutters he had before clearing his throat. "Yes, of course it is. One of my favorite seasons, obviously."

I only gave him a hum in response.

"So..." he paused. "Really, that hair! Is bugging me!"

The immediate move Shishiou performed made it impossible for me to reply. He leaped from his seat to my back, and just from that gesture, I knew promptly what his intentions were.

And when he inserted his slim fingers into my tousled locks, I knew I was right.

"Just what exactly are you doing?" I questioned, even though I already knew the answer.

I couldn't see him, but I knew he was pouting. Maybe there was a possibility that I was an Esper?

"Your hair's bugging me. I can't stand it," he whined, like a child who couldn't get what he wanted.

"And since when were you an excellent hair-dresser?" I shook my head, but grinned and let him do it anyway.

I can feel his fingers combing my hair slowly and carefully. His motion in my hair was awfully meticulous and... how should I put it―tender? It was like he was patting his pet, or something... And at that abrupt thought, my smile turned upside down.

"I am not your _nue_ , Shishiou," I knitted my eyebrows.

He seemed to get the joke because he cracked up, stopping his tender motions for a moment. "Maybe I'm just too used patting him," he said, refraining from patting my head as he didn't want to ruin his effort at mending my hair.

I rolled my eyes for the second time today, before bringing up a new topic. "Speaking of your _nue_ , where is he?"

"Playing with Gokotai and his tigers," Shishiou answered as he pushed a few strands of my hair to the front to frame my face. "He seems to be comfortable with him. Gokotai, I mean."

"You'd make a good big brother," I grinned.

"Probably," he agreed, grinning back, but then as soon as he spoke his next sentence, the felicity he had just a moment ago had already vanished. "Anyway, Aruji, can I ask you something?"

I lifted my eyebrows at his sudden change of mood, making an effort to look at him but he hissed and ordered me to look straight. Pretty sure it was just so he could mend my hair easier. Nonetheless, I indulged.

"What is it?" The urge to see what kind of expression he had right now was excruciating. But I could tell just from his voice that he was rather unhappy.

There was a brief dramatic pause before he opened his mouth. "Whyyyy am I not the captain of the main teaaaaam?!"

The sudden child-like whine caught me off guard. My eyes widened for a brief moment, surprised, and blinked several times. "What?"

"Why is Tsurumaru the captain of the main team?" he said with his usual mumble-growl. Just like an upset lion.

"He's new," I frowned. "He needs to be trained and get stronger, and I am not a soft saniwa. That's why I chose him to be a captain for a while."

"But I'm your strongest sword! I should be protecting him while he trains," he paused when I raised my eyebrow at him. "...Well, second strongest before Yamanbagiri."

"True." I honestly have no reason to deny that fact. "But Tsuru can get stronger faster by putting him in the captain position. That way you'd get your original position back."

There was a short moment of silence before Shishiou let out a huff. "So I need to be patient?"

I nodded firmly. "You need to be patient."

And then his fingers stopped mending my hair. I thought he stopped because he was annoyed, or maybe angry, but when he shifted his seating position back to beside me, I knew I was only being pessimistic.

"Aaand, _voila_!" Shishiou beamed, his hands pointing at my now supposedly neater hair, as if presenting it to other people. He looked extremely happy by the result, and I didn't know if he was indeed a good hair-dresser or not―so I had my doubts. "It's done!"

I couldn't keep my dubious frown out of my face. There was no mirror around, so it was impossible for me to see whether the result was good or not. I tried to touch it, but the attempt was useless. I need a mirror.

"Is it good?"

"It's good," Shishiou nodded firmly, no doubts shown in his cat-like eyes. "Better than good!"

I studied him for a few moment―his expression, the look in his eyes, the way he said that my hair was good―I didn't fully believe him, but I nodded anyway. "Thank you, Shishiou."

But he decided to add something unnecessary. "And pretty, as well."

And at his sudden compliment, I could feel my face turn into an embarrassing reddish hue, similar to Kashuu's nail color. He didn't even look like he was trying to compliment me. He didn't look like Nikkari when he tried to flirt with me. This was not an attempt to flirt, this was a genuine compliment. The other swords compliment me all the time, but why was my face turning red now?

"T-Thank you...?" Embarrassment had taken over me so much that I began to stammer. But when I look up to him again, his face was flushed pink too. And whether this was unexpected or expected, I myself was not really sure.

Our eyes met, and he was the one who averted his gaze first. He tried to form a sheepish grin as he rubbed the back of his neck, but he failed miserably as the grin turned out to be similar to something someone would make when they're about to vomit.

"Y-Yeah, you're welcome..." he trailed off, and for the umpteenth time today, an awkward silence arose between us, and the fact that we weren't looking at each other made it more awkward.

The quietness was agonizing. Even with the stunning landscape that was held upon us, it still felt like something had to be done to break it. The silence remained uninterrupted for a good three minutes before I decided to tear it down with a cough, which instantaneously caught the sword boy's attention.

I stood up and fixed my gaze upon him while building up a warm countenance, adorned by a benign smile, watching his eyes flickered with bewilderment. I reached out my hand to him, to which he just stared at, which grinded my gears quite a bit.

"A nice day to dance, isn't it?" I hinted, urging for the lion to take my hand.

His eyes widened, clearly did not expect for something like this to happen. "Wait, wait, Aruji, I—" His mouth began to produce some incomprehensible words and incomplete sentences as his cheeks became somewhat rosy. And being the mean master as I have always been, I found the scene cute and amusing. "I can't da—"

I knew perfectly what was about to come out from his mouth so with a swift movement, I took his hand and intertwined it with mine, pulling him to where the one of the cherry-blossom trees—the one which do not linger above the pond—was.

Dancing wasn't my forte, but at least I knew the basics of it. However, it was crystal clear that the rather inept man who was standing before me here had never cut the rug before. I curtsied, and then we circled each other, although his movements were gawky and inelegant.

"You can't dance," I kindly completed his sentence while positioning my hand on his shoulder. I gave him an unreadable smile, with mischief veiled behind it. "I know that."

"U-Um, well—t-then shouldn't we be not doing this?" He was still stammering, how adorable. He seemed to be attempting to not make eye-contact with me, and that behavior annoyed me a little. "Plus, we don't have any music…"

"Music is unneeded!" I beamed merrily, much to Shishiou's terror. "All we need is a ticking, and I can do that with my mouth." I offered him my most encouraging smile; he didn't see it, nevertheless, since his eyes were looking elsewhere.

"R-Right—"

"Don't worry, I'll be guiding you," I reassured him, before continuing, "Now put your hand on my back…"

And after he did what I told him to, I looked up, and our eyes touched immediately. And in that moment, I swore my heart skipped a beat and my face turned hot. But he was not looking at my face, which made me feel glad and irritated at the same time. " _Look at me, Shishiou_."

I wonder if that yelp was my imagination. Probably. "Sorry, sorry…"

"That's fine," I smiled. "Just… try to keep your gaze locked to mine, okay?" I saw him gulping down his own saliva before nodding.

"Ready?"

"Y-Yeah."

And I began to count, and at the same time, I began to move my legs.

"One, two, three, four, five…" And so on. Together, we danced to the beat I made, which conveniently seemed to sync to the beating of my heartbeat. It hadn't been that long since we started off, but Shishiou had already almost stepped on my feet _twice_. But I guessed that was normal for a beginner like him.

A dance was supposed to make the dancers involved feel relaxed, but this time, it was different. Instead of feeling relaxed, I was _tense_ , scared that Shishiou might step on me with his shoes.

On the other hand, I couldn't deny the fact that I was enjoying this, as I allowed a smile to form itself across my features. I watched his expressions flicker from fright, confusion, back to fright, and then back to confusion again. It was frustrating to see, but it couldn't be helped. And I also couldn't help but notice that there was one cherry-blossom petal stuck in his blonde ringlets.

I smiled to myself, noting that I should take it later.

While I turned elegantly, my body in tune with the slow beat, Shishiou was stirring his body awkwardly and ungainly. He was hardly syncing with the beat. I winced and hissed in pain when he finally succeeded to step my feet, which he responded with an apologetic whisper of "sorry!". He truly did have two left feet.

But even though our dance was the definition of awkward and clumsy, I, in spite of everything, relished the dance to my heart's content.

I guided him across the ground-coated cherry-blossoms slowly and carefully, not wanting him to fall down or something. I was content at the fact that he had yet to break eye-contact, and I hoped, in any case, he won't.

"…four, five, six, seven…"

"Aruji," he called but I ignored him as I continued counting.

"…eight. One, two, three, four…"

"Aruji, what if someone sees us—"

"Who cares?" I finally said, frowning, but did not stop my feet from moving. "It's not like they can laugh at you for being so amateur. Other than Hasebe, Mitsutada, Ishikirimaru, and Nikkari, who seem to be natural-born dancers, all of them probably have never danced before." I squeezed my hand on his shoulder—a soothing squeeze. "Like you."

My attempt at comforting him seemed to have worked, as he decided to zip his mouth once again and, this time, actually tried to turn and whirl around in an elegant way, although his movements were still all thumbs.

It was pretty unobtrusive, but he was fairly getting better by the second. Although, like I mentioned earlier, his movements were still all thumbs, he hadn't the need to step on my feet anymore. I could only hope that this was a permanent improvement.

I took him anywhere I please on this oh-so-dance floor. When I went right, he went right. When I went left, he went left. I sped up, he sped up. When I decided to twirl around like a real professional dancer, he improvised himself very well, even if he _did_ get flustered the first few seconds. We continued until I decided it was enough and stopped, putting my hands down. He looked confused when I did, staring at me with those wide, cat-like eyes of his, but I gave him a contented smile which made him, too, smile.

"D-Did I do well?" he questioned, forming a bashful smile as he did so.

"No," I said bluntly and honestly. I wanted to say I could literally hear the imaginary stone in his stomach fell, but that'd be an exaggeration. "But for an amateur, you improved very fast."

His pleased grin came back again. "Well, I guess that's better than nothing!"

"It is," I chuckled. "You can take off your hand from my back, anyway." Just realizing that he still had his hand on my back, he quickly took it away, putting it back to his side. His face was slightly red, flustered.

Then I took a step forward, once again puzzling the man with my sudden and unexpected action, and then, without warning, my hand reached out to his head to take the petal that was caught on his hair earlier. I showed him the petal, grinning satisfyingly.

His reaction, too, was fulfilling, seeing that he was laughing to his heart's content. It was nice hearing his laughter again after fifteen minutes of him making perplexed and bewildered expressions.

"So, the tables have turned, huh?" He shot me a grin.

"I guess so." And so I grinned back.

And also, did I mention that we were still holding hands? Shishiou didn't seem to notice though. Well, it wasn't like I mind holding hands with him, though. Instead, I loved the moments we'd spent today.

It was, no doubt, one of my most precious moments that I had spent here.

* * *

 **Was it good? Leave me a comment and kudos if you want more of this kind of garbage-I mean, fic. This is like a reader insert fanfiction, but this is a much more legit version of it, since the Saniwa is actually part of the game (** _lmaoooooooo_ **).**

 **You can also request a one-shot of you, the saniwa, and your favorite sword. Just tell me who you would like me to write and the genre. Remember! Put in the genre so I can please you with exactly what you are looking for! Okay, for example, tell me that you want an** angst with Nakigitsune **, and I'll write it immediately. Got it? Yes, okay.**

 **I already have Namazuo, Yasusada, and probably both Nagasone and Ishikirimaru demanded by my dear friends, so, your requests might have to wait.**

 **Okay, that's all for now, I guess. Oh, and don't forget to give me feedbacks and kudos!** _Au revoir_ **, peeps.**


	2. Entangled Mess (Namazuo)

**Prompt:** post/131326634719/imagine-person-a-is-the-type-to-spend-hours

 **Last week I gave you Shishiou. This week, I'm giving you one of the Toushrou twins, Namazuo.**

 **Enjoy, peeps.**

* * *

The room was wrapped in tranquility when I threw my eyes wide open, only to be welcomed by the dimness of the room which was wordlessly embracing my frame. My mind was still fuzzy, as the last remnants of the dream I had just now were being chased away by the realization that I was now awake. I didn't quite recall what kind of dream I was having, but for some reason, I knew it was something horrible—albeit not much of a nightmare.

With an effort, I turned my head to where the window was supposed to be, and saw nothing but darkness outside. The sun had yet to shine—again, I was early. In my dictionary, however, that was a good thing. That could only mean that, once again, I was the first one to wake up. And that, I repeat, was a good thing.

My eyes were still quite heavy, therefore I closed my eyes for a few moments, and then opened them again, and then blinked twice, before I decided to let out a soft moan as I stretched my limbs, allowing for the bones and joints to make cracking sounds.

I sat up, my hand subconsciously crawling up to my head to scratch my itchy head—but, midway, I stopped, and grimaced.

"Curses," I cursed under my breath. With a swift movement, I slithered away from my _futon_ , and involuntarily hissed when the frostiness of the dawn pricked my pale skin. But I got used to the cold rather quickly, and when I did, I snatched my usual attire for the day and a towel, before making a dash toward the bathroom.

The corridor was dim, most of the lights turned off. And there seemed no sign of anyone's presence, and that was another good thing. I opened the door leading to the bathroom, and silently closed the door shut.

I pressed the light switch which was positioned right beside the wooden door, and in an instant, the room was illuminated by the lamps' radiances.

The bathroom was white and clean and very traditional-looking, and it was _very_ big. Nonetheless, I came to a decision that the thought was pointless, thus I stripped naked, taking off the garments I'd used for sleeping, and half-walked half-ran in the direction of one of the many mirrors in the bathroom.

As soon as I sat down on the stool before the mirror and saw my reflection, I grimaced for the second time today, in less than three minutes. My bed hair was in shambolic tangles—it was as wild as the jungle, untamable and a danger to the comb. This was nothing surprising, though. It happens every single day, even before I got here to this place.

This was why I had to be the first one to wake up. It'd been ten months—almost a _year_ — ever since I arrived here and not a single person had known or seen my embarrassing, humiliating, and chaotic bed hair. Curls were everywhere, some strands sticking to my cheeks. I pushed it to the back of my ear while hissing in irritation. If I had to exaggerate, it was as though my hair had its own soul or something.

"Damned uncontrollable hair..." I snarled at my reflection.

Then, I started to bath myself. I coated myself with cold water, to which I shivered upon the touch of it. Once the water poured over my hair, it immediately fell down and once again looked tidy—if not wet. I found myself satisfied as always, even though I hadn't styled my hair.

It took a while for me to get myself done. I ended up up washing myself for more or less twenty minutes. Again, it wasn't unexpected at all.

Taking the towel into my hands, I dried myself up, wiping the water off of my skin and hair entirely. I tried not to make my hair even messier than what it had been previously before I took a bath.

Once my body was dry enough, I strode toward to where I'd put my attire earlier, and donned it on. Before I went back to the mirror, I took the comb that was beside my clothes, and then went back to the mirror. For a brief moment, I took a good look at myself, studying the frown that was decorating my countenance. And then I inserted the comb into my hair in an attempt to neaten it up.

After quite a long time, my hair was finally proper to be called a _neat_ hair. No curls were standing up, and it was not messy anymore. I let out a sigh of relief, taking a last look at myself in the mirror, before walking out from the bathroom.

By the time I got outside, the light that the sun had was already peeking from the window, and the lights were already on, signing that one or maybe more people were already up.

I then proceeded to wake the boys up. From the _tantous_ , who was still snoring when I got to their room, to the only _naginata_ I have, who was also still snoring and drooling like an idiot. Then I made breakfast with Mitsutada, who was basically the mom of the squad. And to the tantous' disappointment—especially Aizen, I'd given them loads of vegetables.

When breakfast was done, I started to do my works. Sending out the main team into the front lines; sending out the third auxiliary team on an expedition, since today was their turn—giving the second and fourth auxiliary teams free periods, much to their excitement; smithing, only to be angered that the smith was being annoying; making armors; and choosing who was going to do the tasks—I'd chose Hasebe and Kane-san to do the horsekeeping, Namazuo and Honebami to do the fieldwork, and Otegine and Nagasone to spar.

I let myself lie down in the citadel, allowing myself to let out a sigh of exhaustion. I closed my eyes and brought my hand to the bridge of my nose to massage myself.

Today had been exactly the same as yesterday and the day before that—just another busy day for me. But, of course, that didn't compare to the fatigue the boys feel every day—particularly the ones in the main team, whom I send to the front lines almost every single day. I couldn't even imagine the tiredness they feel every time they get home, not to mention the injuries I have to mend, too.

"You okay?"

My eyes shot open in surprise upon hearing the familiar voice, only to be welcomed by the face of the black-haired Toushirou twin. I almost jerked up when I noticed the very little distance between the _wakizashi_ and me.

"Zuo, can you please _not_ bethis close?" I could feel my face reddening slightly as I pushed him away from my face.

Namazuo let out an amused laugh, causing me to be sure that he saw me going red. It wasn't like I could hide my face anywhere. I didn't have the time.

He moved away and positioned himself beside me. I sat up, managing to sigh in the process. This seemed to catch the _wakizashi_ 's attention.

"Tired?" he asked, studying my countenance.

I gave him a slight smile. "I pretty much get tired every day."

A frown succeeded to find its way up Namazuo's lips. "And that is why you should sleep earlier!"

"But clearly, if I did, some of you guys would stay up late and drink. Especially those _tachi, oodachi_ , _yari_ , and of course, Iwatooshi. Well, maybe except Hotarumaru."

The frown was now replaced by a childish pout. "We won't drink or anything…!"

"The smell may be enough to make the kids trashed out," I argued.

That seemed to shut Namazuo up. Perhaps he didn't want his younger brothers to be curious of alcohols. Not until at least they're… well, twenty, which is still a long journey until they're of that age.

"Anyway," I started, bringing up a new conversation, "Where's your brother? It's weird that you guys aren't together."

"Akira and Gokotai practically forced him to play _kagome, kagome_. I wanted to join, but then I saw you here alone, so," he gave me a blinding grin, "Why not accompany Aruji? I thought."

"What a gentleman," I commented. I decided to smile, responding to his grin which I didn't want to be left hanging. "But, oh, a flirt too," I bantered.

"Oh, come on now!"

And then we laughed. We laughed for a good one minute before the laughter died down, leaving the silence hanging. It was awkward, the sudden silence—especially with Namazuo staring at me the whole time, studying me. It looked as if he wanted to say something, but decided not to do so.

In the first ten seconds, I was fine, although feeling rather uncomfortable under his curious stares. But after thirty seconds had passed, it'd grinded my gear eventually, causing me to clear my throat and look at him in the eyes. It didn't surprise me when our eyes immediately met.

"Is there something wrong?"

What made me confused was that he suddenly leaned forward without uttering a word. Caught off guard, I let out a small yelp, although he didn't seem to care as he was still leaning toward me. I froze in my spot, hadn't a clue of what should I do. Then, spontaneously, a question escaped my lips.

"Namazuo, what are you—"

However, he knew what I was about to ask, because he'd cut me before I finished the question. "This," he said simply. It'd bewildered me for a couple of seconds, but then I felt him touch my hair. "Kinda messy."

He was leaning over me, so he couldn't see what kind of expression I was making.

I was _horrified_.

No, more than that.

I was _appalled_.

He was now attempting to tidy the supposedly unkempt part of my hair as if it wasn't a big of a problem. Of course it wasn't—at least, from his point of view, it wasn't a big of a deal, since he didn't know about my insecurity about my hair.

But for me? Oh, no—it was _more_ than a big of a deal.

Spontaneously, I jerked back, causing for the _wakizashi_ to gasp out of surprise. He didn't appear to see my appalled expression, considering I was looking down.

"Aruji?" he called, but I didn't respond. It only caused him to be more worried. "Aruji, are you o—"

Before he even finished his sentence, I was already sprinting away from the citadel. I could distinctly hear him shout "Aruji!" which I hoped no one heard. Because that'd be a pain if someone heard.

I dashed toward my room and entered before slamming the door shut. I made my way toward the shelf beside my _futon_ and took out a comb, before dashing toward the only mirror in my room, which could be considered small.

And then, without wasting anymore time, I combed the hell out of my hair.

It took me quite long—maybe ten minutes? I supposed it was more or less ten minutes—for me to fix my hair, although it didn't look quite different than before.

But then again, Namazuo noticed a messy part of my hair, so at least it was better than before.

Without me realizing, I'd brought my hand to where Namazuo had noticed the unkempt part of my hair was. There was nothing there now—not that I knew if there _was_ actually an unkempt part of my hair.

"We're home!" Someone—whom I immediately recognized as Hotarumaru—shouted distantly.

Lifting my body up, I walked toward the entrance of the building, since the main team had gotten home safely.

Hotarumaru was uninjured, as always. But Mikazuki, who I'd only acquired a few days prior, was injured. It appeared that he was still too frail to be going to Honnoji. I immediately went to repair—um, heal him.

Then the _tantou_ childrenasked me to play, which I kindly indulged.

The time had gone so fast that by the time we finished playing, the Earth had swallowed the sun once again, replacing it with the moon.

And then all of us had dinner. I was the one preparing it, as usual, with Mitsutada helping me. Always the mom figure, he was.

Then it was time for sleep. I'd waited for all of them to sleep first, checking their rooms to make sure they were all asleep and not fake-sleeping. And then, I got to my room, changed, and slid under my futon. It was nice to have my back lie down again.

In all of those fun moments, however, I completely _and deliberately_ took notice of the presence of a certain _wakizashi_.

Why?

Because of… a reason.

* * *

I groaned when the sunlight hit my face like a slap. I wasn't used with waking up and then welcomed by the oh-so-lovely sun. The birds' twitters were like the sound of a chalk against a board, causing me to wince. I couldn't believe it was morning already—it felt like it'd only been ten minutes since I threw myself under the folds. The tiredness from yesterday was still sticking onto me like a leech, and I didn't like the feeling.

I lay there for more five minutes, but since I found out that I couldn't fall back asleep again, I decided to open my eyes, which immediately stung when the sunlight touched my eyes again.

Wait.

Sunlight.

Birds?

The _sun_?

The realization slapped me in the face instantly, and I froze, appalled by it.

I woke up _late_. I couldn't believe myself. I actually woke up late for the first time in ten months!

My hand creeped up to my hair instantaneously and— _of course_ —my bed hair was the definition of the word 'messy'.

I wasted no more time. As fast as I could, I slid away from my _futon_ and repeated the same routine I'd been doing for the past ten months—snatching my usual attire, a towel, and a comb, except in a quicker and hastier pace. I was panicking—surely that was obvious if one were to see my face currently.

And then I rushed to the bathroom, which, luckily, was placed right across my room.

 _It won't even take five seconds for me to run over there_ , I thought. _Just hurry. Hurry and dash to the bathroom. Come on, you, you can do this…_

"Aruji?"

I froze on my spot immediately when I heard that voice. The voice whose owner I'd been avoiding all day the day before. I was frozen, finding it impossible for me to take another few steps forward. It was as if my feet were nailed to the ground.

Stiffly, I turned my head to where voice had come from. "Namazuo," I nodded, finally acknowledging his presence. "Good morning."

I scrutinized the changes of his expression. It'd turned from confusion to surprise, although it reverted back to confusion again in no time. I'd supposed he was appalled by my horrible bed hair. And, to be honest, I should be the one being confused.

Why wasn't he laughing at me? Pretty sure he'd be laughing at me in only a matter of seconds now.

"Just woke up?" he asked.

 _Come on, laugh already. Don't hold back._

"Yeah," I responded curtly, refusing to look at him in the eyes. Instead, I focused my gaze to whatever was behind Namazuo. "You're already dressed."

"I woke up early for once," he grinned proudly. I wished I could grin back, but the situation was making it impossible for me to do so.

 _Why aren't you laughing? Are you holding it back?_

Despite my baseless assumption, Namazuo didn't look like he would be laughing in a couple of seconds. He didn't have the face of someone holding back their laughter in.

"That's nice," I replied.

The brief silence infiltrated again. It appeared that it liked disturbing every single of my conversation with this black-haired Toushirou twin.

And, this time, it wasn't me who broke the silence.

"Um," he started, making me to take a look at him. When he made a gesture to his hair, I almost rolled my eyes. "Your hair is kinda different from usual."

"And by _kinda different_ , you mean _very different_?" I tried not to hiss when I spat that out from my mouth.

I watched as Namazuo began to get all defensive by raising his hands in a cautious way and his eyes alert. "Well, yeah, the hair is very different—"

I sent him a glare.

However, in spite of the glare I'd shot him, he was unaffected by it. And to my incredulity, he calmly took a step forward, the alert in his eyes had already vanished by the time I looked at him again. I had never met anyone in my life that could change and control their emotions so fast. Or was he just pretending to be alerted?

I didn't care, because by the time I'd thought about that, he was already in front of me. His eyes were staring at me, eyeing me—studying me. I didn't want to look away, nor did I want to take a step back. And the latter was so tempting to be done, since I was rather uncomfortable by the little space between us.

I was about to ask what he was doing, but he opened his mouth first.

"But of course," he started, bringing his palm to my hair, and to my annoyance, he began to ruffle it, making it messier than it'd originally been. Not that it was already messy in the first place. "It doesn't diminish your charm."

Who knew the annoyance could vanish in merely a couple of second?

"What?" I blurted out, shocked.

"Your bed hair," he tossed me a grin, "You still look good in it!"

I didn't know how to react. I knew, nevertheless, that shades of red were beginning to take over my countenance since I could literally feel my face burning—hot. Namazuo seemed satisfied, as he let out a contented hum.

I fiddled with my hair, which I knew was scruffier than it had originally been since Namazuo had messed it up for me more. I was finding a good riposte to give him—maybe jab him with a jeer—but nothing came to mind. Instead, a betraying, embarrassed "thank you" escaped my lips involuntarily.

He seemed to be more content than before—he looked beyond delighted, even, when I said that. Well, at least I managed to please him.

"No problem!" he beamed.

I couldn't help but smile at this goofball. And I swore, for a split second, I could see his cheeks turning red. I didn't mention it at all to him, but I wished I could take a picture to show it to everybody. I _was_ that kind of person, after all.

"Anyway, Aruji," he cleared his throat, gaining my attention once again. The pink in his cheeks were gone by then, letting me down slightly.

I blinked several times. "Yeah?"

"You actually look kinda nice in this hair! Why don't you style it like that for the rest of the day? Or maybe even better, _every day_?"

And on that day, for the first time in ten months, I must repair a sword who was damaged because of my own action.

* * *

 **Well, that sucked. I'm still not satisfied with this, grhh... I'm sorry orz. I'm nooooot _ssssaaaaaaatttttttiiiiiiissssssssffffffiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeddddd._**

 ***clears throat* Anyway, that was Namazuo/Saniwa dedicated to my friend. Hope you guys enjoyed!**

 **I also can't believe I've actually gotten requests. I didn't think people would bother requesting, so, yeah...**

 **And of course, I can't forget to mention this precious friend of mine, namely Asuka ( asukathology), for beta-reading this chapter! She said it's cute, in spite of my dissatisfaction, so I decided to just publish it immediately. Oh, and third chapter will be dedicated to her, so for chapter four and onwards, I will be working on the requests you guys gave me.**

 **I guess that's all for now. Thank you for reading, and don't forget to leave me a review!**


	3. Be Damned, Roach (Yasusada)

**HAHAHAHAH AH I procrastinate too much. Sorry. How many months have it been since I last updated this? I'm such a trash. At first, yes, I was busy with school, but it's been a week since holiday started.**

 **I have no excuses for these past few weeks. Sorry.**

 **But hey, here's a humorous(?) Yasusada/Saniwa. Enjoy!**

* * *

While scrutinizing the whole kitchen which, in this case, bore a resemblance to a wrecked ship, I demanded, "Who did this?"

Even though I said those three words loud and clear, they—Atsu and Gotou—still refused to answer. Poor decision, for that would only make me even more infuriated.

I took a deep breath in an attempt to placate myself, but the attempt was rather in vain because I didn't feel as though the weight has been lifted off of my shoulder. I sharpened my glare, trying to accentuate the fact that I was genuinely displeased by the mess one of these two—or both—had created.

I waited for a full one minute for a response, but none of the two spoke—it seemed they were too intimidated by my presence. And my assumption appeared to be correct, proven by the fact that Gotou flinched and averted his gaze when I fixed my eyes on him.

"Did you do this, Gotou?" I deliberately hissed in order to sound intimidating as I gestured towards the mess that was presented before me.

"No…" he trailed off.

I immediately opened my mouth again as soon as he finished speaking, my tone accusing without me realizing, "Well, that bottle of soy sauce in your hand proves otherwise."

"No, wait, Atsu held it before me and when Aruji came, he immediately shoved it to me!"

Clearly, this claim made Atsu's face turned crimson, out of anger or out of guilt, I didn't know. But I know I needed to straighten this problem up as quickly as I can, because the main party will come home from Kyoto soon.

"Wait, I didn't do it—! Gotou, stop lying!"

"I'm not lying! Aruji, it's the truth! I didn't do anything, Atsu just dragged me into this for no rea—"

"Don't listen to him, Aruji! I only wanted to take a drink but Gotou persuaded me to play with the, ah, um, err—"

And only with that stutter, I knew instantly who started it all.

"Gotou is telling the truth, isn't he?" I focused my intense glare on the black-haired Tantou, watching as he suddenly tensed hearing my icy tone. He seemed to be more and more intimidated as seconds passed, but it didn't look like he was going to admit, thus I allowed myself to let out a helpless sigh. I shook my head a couple times; arguing with myself that I was ought to scold Atsu more for being troublesome.

But I couldn't—I wasn't the type to let out my anger and annoyance to other people, much less to kids.

When I finally looked back to the guilty person concerned, his countenance was already transformed to an optimistic and expectant one, unmistakably hoping that I wouldn't get angry and shout at him. And, much to my frustration, that was what undeniably going to happen next.

Although still feeling exasperated and upset, I was aware of the fact that my expression had changed to a helpless and acquiescent one.

I bent over so that I would be able to match my line of vision with his. Then I gave him a flick on the forehead, which appeared to take him by surprise. With a frown, I watched him rub and scrub the flicked part of his forehead in pain. While he did that, he kept on shrieking an apology. Guilt struck me straightaway—but no, I needed to be stern for Atsu to learn his mistakes.

"Didn't I tell you to never make a mess?" I reminded him to when I first forged him, when I told him the rules I made and applied for this dwelling. I recalled at how pleased I was back then when I finally got him—but I was not aware of how troublesome this one was. "Didn't you remember back then, when I first told you about the rules?"

Atsu obviously didn't want to look at me in the eyes, but I couldn't blame him. Guilty folks tend to do that, after all. "Rule number three, what was it?"

There was a brief pause before Atsu finally parted his lips to quote, "Don't dirty the house in any way. Making a mess is forbidden."

I gave him a pat on the head. "Correct, and you just broke that rule. I think you already know what the punishment is."

Playing with his fingers, Atsu responded hesitantly, "…Clean it up?"

"Correct." I stood up in an instant, and glad I decided to do so because I saw Gotou attempting to flee the scene by tiptoeing away out of the room. With a swift movement, I grabbed him by the sleeve and swung him around, while muttering, "Not so fast, Gotou."

Afterwards, I ordered them to clean the kitchen and told them that they were not to leave the room until the kitchen is spick and span. I watched them go out the room and back, bringing a mop and a broom with them, and began to sweep the place up. Now assured that they'd do as I said, I told them for the last time, "I'm going to get someone reliable to keep an eye on you two, so don't even think of escaping."

I watched in amusement as the two Tantou's jaws dropped, aghast—it seemed that they were already planning on escaping. Not anymore, though.

Stepping out from the kitchen, I closed the door behind me, and was immediately startled to death by the appearance of one of my earliest swords.

"Can't scold Atsu, can you?"

My cheeks burnt red slightly as I jerked backward out of surprise, undoubtedly embarrassed that I got surprised for nothing. I scoffed, and then asked, "How long have you been there, Yasusada?"

"Long enough to hear every single thing," Yasusada chuckled, causing him to earn a black look from me. Noticing it, he raised his hands in front of his chest defensively. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to eavesdrop or something!"

"But you clearly did so."

"Well," he pushed a strand of his midnight blue locks to the back of his ear while grinning, "I suppose."

I let out a sigh, eyeing the man for a moment. "I take it that the main team hasn't come back," I reckoned.

"Correct. Oh, and also, Ookurikara and Hachisuka are done sparring. They're now sleeping, I think."

"Yeah, let them be. They must be tired."

Yasusada gave me a hum as a response and nodded. "I'm not even your main team's captain, but I'm acting as if I'm your assistant. Don't you find that a bit weird?"

I didn't expect for a question like that to leave his mouth. I stared at him for a few moments, reading his expression in an effort to find out what he thought he'd achieve by asking me this, but to no avail. "Not really," thus I answered. "Besides, one; you're my second auxiliary team's captain, and that's enough position to allow you to be this friendly to me—well, not that the others can't, too—second…" I stared at him incredulously. "You do know that I swapped Monoyoshi and you in order to train him?"

When he produced a laugh from his lips, I rolled my eyes, although couldn't help but let out a chortle too. "So you _did_ know."

"Of course I knew. I was just asking to see your reaction to that—I thought that your reaction would be amusing, and, well, who knew I was right?"

My hand crawled up to my face—another facepalm for today. Convenient, though, considering my face was burning crimson again, the facepalm was enough to hide the it.

"You little…"

"—WATCH OUT!"

The door where Gotou and Atsu were supposed to be in was suddenly slammed open, creating a yelp from me and a gasp from Yasusada. I stumbled backward out of surprise, but managed to regain my composure again, in which I immediately used to form another sharp look and eyed the two boys who were now running away down the hall in such a hurry, as though something was chasing them. And something—no, _someone_ would if they don't come back here in three seconds.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" I shouted at them with all of my might. "Come back here right away!"

"No way!" Gotou shouted back with his head turned to me, not stopping his track. "There's a cockroach and we don't want to deal with it!"

Hearing that a certain creature was lurking around in the kitchen, I stiffened. "Wait. Wait, there's a wh—"

Something landed on my forehead. Its feet were crawling around in such a creepy and disgusting way that it was impossible for it not to send chills down to my spine. I looked at Yasusada who was staring at me, concern filling his eyes. I gulped, forcing a smile as I pointed to the brown creature on my forehead.

"…T-That's a cockroach, no…?"

When Yasusada gave me a nod, I felt my body go lighter as if something pulled my legs. The last thing I remember was Yasusada's panicked expression as he ran to me who seemed to be falling to the ground slowly. I remembered preparing myself for the impact, before realizing that everything started to turn black.

* * *

Even though my eyelids were heavy enough to make them close again for a couple of minutes, the lamp's illuminations were keeping me from doing so. Therefore, I opened them unwittingly. With a frown carved up onto my lips, I lazily looked around; inspecting the room I was in. My gaze went from the window –that made me wince, which I should've known—to the table, to the door. Concluding that I was in my own room, I sat up sluggishly as I dug my pile of memories to find what I was doing before this and how the hell did I get—

Oh.

 _ **OH.**_

With a small screech, I stood up almost instantly, scrutinizing every nook and corners my room had thoroughly, in search of the insect that attacked me earlier today—heck, I didn't have a clue what time it is currently.

"Aruji, are you alright?!" Came Yasusada from the other side of the door.

And here I thought that my screech wasn't that loud.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright, don't worry, nothing came, no, not the roach. Nope," I laughed.

Hearing footsteps, I looked up to Yasusada who was indeed making his way toward me. I scratched my cheek, sighing. "I suppose it's not killed yet…?"

Though I knew the answer was a no, I was still rather discontented when I saw him shook his head. "No. It flew away when you passed out… I've informed the others, though—kill a cockroach if you see one, I said. I was running through here in search of it, but then I heard a screech from here, so I decided to stop and check."

"I see…" I bit my lips, frustrated. And this was why I hated messy things. They're basically a written invitation for cockroaches to come, and obviously I hate those— cockroaches, I mean.

"So, I guess this is why you don't like unclean stuffs, huh?" I heard him chuckle.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, shut up." Again, another chuckle went into my ear.

I wanted to stab him in the rib with my elbow, but changed my mind when I felt a quite reassuring grip on my shoulder. I looked over to see Yasusada giving me one of his most uplifting smiles, to which I couldn't help but smile back. "It's okay," he assured me in his most soothing voice ever, "I'm going to kill it, so don't worry."

"Yeah," I said. That was not a halfhearted response—I truly believed he can do it. Then I remembered something. "Oh, right, what time is it right now?"

"It's 10 PM," Yasusada answered casually. But me—no, my reaction was completely different to his.

"Excuse—wh—it's past bedtime! Why aren't you asleep yet?!" I chided him, both of my hands resting on my hips. Despite my loud voice, however, he didn't even flinch one bit.

"Yeah, well, I was in search of the cockroach, so…"

I shuddered again, suddenly recalling the feeling of the insect's disgusting feet crawling over my forehead—that sent chills down my spine once again. My shoulders went limp and dropped upon the thought of the cockroach crawling over me again in my sleep. I shook my head— _goddamn brain, shut up with your unwanted thoughts._

"R-Right," I muttered, rubbing my forehead as though I was cleaning it from whatever disease the cockroach had brought on its feet when it crawled onto me. "Of course… the cockroach…"

Yasusada tilted his head to the side a bit in confusion. "What's wrong?"

I chewed my bottom lip, uneasily avoiding his curious gaze. I wouldn't be able to sleep with the cockroach roaming freely around the house. I wouldn't even be able to lie down at ease without thinking that the cockroach might crawl up to my body again—just the thought of that terrified me completely. But there was no way I could say that to him. Sure, Yasusada might not laugh at my disgust (and fear, I suppose) of cockroaches, unlike Iwatooshi—who I imagined would definitely laugh—but still…

Looking up to him, I tried my best to let out the words I'd formed in my head without stumbling on my own words. "Can you at least accompany me in my sleep…?" Though I still looked nervous, considering that I was scratching my cheek when I said so. "Until the cockroach is found, of course!"

Yasusada took his time to answer. Again, he gave me another sweet smile. "Sure, why not?"

And that was how I ended up being under my sheets again, although this time there was a difference. This time, the dark blue-haired man was lying down behind me with his back against mine, donning his sleeping attire, currently sleeping peacefully. I could hear his stable breathes clearly, as it was the only clear sound I could hear—the night was quiet as usual.

But even with Yasusada being there, I still couldn't find myself being able to let myself drift away comfortably. I imagined it entering my room through the tiny gap under the door, the sound of its feet crawling toward the bed, up to my feet, to my thighs, to my—

I shuddered when I felt Yasusada shifted in his sleep slightly, his cold feet brushing against mine. A sigh of relief escaped my lips, glad that it wasn't the filthy insect. But the readjustment of his position made mine rather uncomfortable. I frowned, fixing my position a little, but the discomfort was still lingering. As a result, I spontaneously tossed around, expecting to see Yasusada's broad back, but instead I found myself staring at a pair of cerulean orbs.

"Haven't slept yet?"

My cheeks burnt red at how close our faces were. Our noses were basically brushing against each other now, and the fact that my heart was pumping hard behind my chest wasn't helping either.

"Not yet," I responded, avoiding his gaze.

"Is it because of the cockroach?"

Hesitantly, I nodded.

He chuckled in amusement. "That's cute."

"Shut up." I frowned, feeling the opposite of what he was feeling. "I didn't know you were this flirty."

"I can be flirty if I want," he replied.

"Really?" I raised both of my eyebrows, a challenging smirk making its way up to my lips.

"I can prove it right now, you know."

I could feel my cheeks turning pink again, my smirk faltering. Silently, I wondered if he could see it in the dimness of the room. The window was letting some moonlight in, but I didn't think it was enough for it to allow Yasusada to distinguish my red face from the darkness.

I was about to say something in return, but before I could form any kind of words in my head, Yasusada was already on top of me with his hands beside me, firmly pinning me against the floor as if not allowing me to move. I gaped at him in surprise, feeling my cheeks turning redder and redder as I nervously looked around the blackness at anything but him.

"A-Alright, you proved yourself, Yasusada. Y-You can get off now," I said, stumbling over my own words a couple times.

Yasusada didn't listen, however. Instead, he put a finger against my lips and hissed like a snake to shut me up. I raised both of my eyebrows and frowned, rather irked by the action. I was about to say something quite nasty for him to get off of me, but changed my mind when I saw his eyes narrowing on something. What caught my attention was that something wasn't me or any part of my body, it was something else.

"What's wrong…?" I asked in a low voice, somewhat alarmed of the sudden change of his expression.

"Quiet, quiet," was the only thing I earned from him.

Alright, that was it. If he wasn't going to tell me what made him alarmed like this, then I'll make him. "Yasusada, I respect your concern, but really, what exactly made you li—"

My sentence was cut short when Yasusada swiftly swung his open hand to me. My eyes widened in an instant, but immediately shut my eyelids again, readying myself for the impact…that never came. But I did hear sound of his hand slapping against something—so what did he hit?

However, my question was quickly answered. "Be damned, Mr. Roach," I heard him say.

I cracked my eyes open straightaway upon hearing his words. I looked over to where his palm was, expecting something disgusting to come into view—and I was right. The sight was disgusting.

I recoiled hastily from Yasusada, shuddering and shivering when I got a good look of it.

"Well," Yasusada started, drawing away from the now flat dead cockroach, "That settles it then."

Tossing him a dark look, I hissed, " _That_ settles it?"

Turning his head to me, he blinked several times; obviously clueless at what I felt about what just occurred. "Well, the cockroach is dead, right? So you don't have to worry anymore, Aruji."

I shot him a stare of incredulity. "I couldn't believe you just killed a cockroach with your bare hand!" I gawked.

"Well, as long as it's dead, you're f—"

" _Yamatonokami Yasusada_ ," I snarled, making sure that I emphasized his name with fury dripping from it. "— _WASH YOUR HAND IMMEDIATELY!_ "

—That day, every single one of my swords woke up at two in the morning to the sound of my bellow.

And I wasn't even sorry.

* * *

 **Next one is Ichigo, as requested by** elliet from Ao3. **Let's just hope I don't procrastinate too much www.**


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